Category Archives: Church

Pictured from left getting ready for the Good Friday Cross Walk are Glenda Abbate, the Rev. David Nethercott, Mary Johnson, Sharon Wheeler, Nancy Allen and Lois Mirabito.Valley News photo by Kelly LeVea

The annual Good Friday Cross Walk will begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 18 in the parking lot of Holy Trinity Parish, Buffalo Street, Fulton.

The cross walk is sponsored by the Greater Fulton Area Council of Christian Churches. Walkers will gather for prayer and the singing of hymns as they take turns carrying a large wooden cross in the downtown section of the city of Fulton.

This annual walk returns to and remembers the “way of the cross” that Jesus Christ traveled on his journey within the city of Jerusalem to the place of his crucifixion.

The cross walk concludes about noon at its final destination, First United Church of Fulton, 33 S. Third St.

Everyone who takes part in the walk can partake of a soup and bread lunch provided by the Board of Deacons of First United Church.

Both the cross walk and the lunch are open to the public. There is no cost for the luncheon.

The Greater Fulton Area Council of Christian Churches is made up of those member congregations who support ecumenical programs, including the annual Michaud Memorial Service and the annual fall season CROP WALK, which raises funds for world hunger, and also for local food pantries.

For further information about the Greater Fulton Area Council of Christian Churches and the Good Friday Cross Walk, call the Council of Churches President, Rev. David Nethercott at 592-2707 or email him at prairieborn@aol.com).

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7)

I read somewhere that the simple affirmation that God is good is a wonderful and marvelous thing to consider.

It is certainly true. Think what an all powerful, all knowing God who is everywhere at once would be like if he was not also good. Perfectly good and unchanging.

Imagine even a god who is good today but might change his mind at any given moment. What a frightful thing to contemplate.

A. W. Tozer believed (and rightly so, I think) that we tend, “by a secret law of the soul” to gravitate toward our mental image of God and that in so doing, over time, we grow to resemble that mental image.

As a result, Mr. Tozer was convinced that what comes to your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you. Lofty thoughts of God bring us into a more pure worship and careful walk, while low thoughts of God defile us as our deceitful hearts ultimately corrupt that walk.

The bottom line is that you become what you believe about God. Now, that is not to say that this happens apart from the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit but that He works through our thoughts and meditations upon who God is.

If we conclude that God is who He says He is, a good God and that He has our best interests at heart, then we naturally hold that His Word is true and the necessary guide for all of life. One thing leads to another and another and we are transformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of God, the Son.

Make no mistake, the goodness by which God makes possible our reconciliation, and by which He will one day judge the world, doesn’t mean that all will be saved and none lost (Romans 11:22).

To commit sin is always, in one way or another, to refuse the benevolence of God’s will and if we’re lost in eternity, it will be the consequence of having refused that love for so long that time ran out (John 3:16-19).

Some will simply not accept God on His terms, and we’re told that these will experience, “everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

It is not so much that God sends them to eternal punishment as that He allowed them the freedom to choose and they will not have for all of eternity that which they chose while choice was still theirs. God will not force His goodness upon any whose final choice is to refuse it.

But no one needs to reject the truth about God’s goodness. Peter wrote that we can entrust ourselves “to a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19).

This truth is far reaching. Whoever truly comes to terms with the unfailing goodness of God will never again treat sin or future concerns in the same way.

A deep, grateful confidence that God is good will win the war against both wickedness and worry.

Some may wonder why I am writing so much about the holiness of God? Why is it so important?

Well, it is important because it is nothing less than His holiness that we need. We do not need moral perfection according to any other standard. We need God’s very Holiness within.

We human beings, even (dare I say especially?) Christians, are too often content with a simple standard of morality. Such contentment, even with the highest standard of moral behavior reveals a sad misunderstanding of what God requires.

It blinds us to true holiness and more often than not results in silly standards and behavior. When true holiness as God means it, is confused with morality… no matter how high that standard of morality… it muddies the waters terribly.

It seems right, but it is so, so wrong. The standard is mistaken for true holiness of life.

Thus ‘holiness’ becomes associated strictly with outward behavior, resulting in prohibitions against things like drinking, dancing, playing cards, chewing tobacco, the use of makeup, attending movies and a score of other behaviors. When such moral standards are equated with Christianity, thinking saints have questions and are often confused.

I remember well attending a church sponsored night at the roller rink and one of the women who loved to ‘dance’ on roller skates (and boy could she make those skates sing!) asked the question, why is it is OK to dance with wheels on our feet but it is prohibited otherwise?

There was also the standard that Christians did not attend the movies but nearly everyone had a television. What made the big screen sinful but the little screen OK?

Or, and this one that many struggle with, if the drinking of all alcohol is bad why did Jesus turn water into wine? Why does it say that an elder must not be a man who drinks too much? And if all alcohol is bad, why did Paul tell Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake and his chronic illnesses?

Questions which led to confusion and ultimately to guilt-ridden behavior when the believer secretly engaged in those practices they were told were wrong. Why? Because the focus was upon a moral standard or code without understanding that the holiness God requires is nothing less than His holiness operating in our lives.

There is no true holiness in mere morality. Though there may be much that is highly esteemed among men, there is nothing about it that is right in the sight of God. That holiness operating in us results in the best of moral behavior, of course. Do not misunderstand. But it is so very much more.

Joel Scandrett, an associate editor with Intervarsity Press, put it well when he wrote “I believe one crucial ingredient to healing our moral confusion is the recovery of the biblical idea of holiness, which, though it results in private morality is in truth, so much more. (It is) the very life of God in us. Holiness stands at the beginning and centre of God’s call on our lives: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (Lev. 11:44).

Biblical “holiness” carries a strong secondary connotation of moral purity, of course, but moral purity is not, first and foremost, what Scripture is talking about.

Instead, the most basic meaning of the words is to be “set apart” or “dedicated” to God. “I will be your God, and you will be my people,” says Yahweh (Lev. 26:12; Heb. 8:10).

Thus, prior to any consideration of morality, biblical holiness describes a unique relationship that God has established and desires with his people. This relationship has moral ramifications, true enough, but it precedes moral behavior.

Before we are ever called to be good, we are called to be holy. Unless we understand this, we fall into the inevitable trap of reducing holiness to mere morality.

How much more God is asking of us than mere morality! As long as our notions of holiness are limited to doing certain things and not doing other things, we can go through our entire lives obeying the rules (or at least maintaining the appearance of doing so) without dealing with a far more fundamental question: To whom do we give our first love and loyalty?

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ requires nothing less than death to our fallen, egocentric selves in order that we might live in and for him. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,” says Jesus, “but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:35-36).”

Why study the holiness of God? Because the Christian life is nothing less than His Holiness in us. It is not some imitation of His life or adherence to his perceived standard. It is not simply obedience to some moral code. It is not even doing what Jesus would do.

It is His life, his holiness within, lived out in us. As the Apostle Paul said, “For me to live is Christ.”

Members of Girl Scout Troop #10925 of Fulton have been working hard on their Bronze Award. One thing they have been working on is getting donations for Madalyn & Evelyn’s Easter Spirit.

This organization puts together Easter baskets for children in need throughout Oswego County. To do this, the Girl Scouts have decorated boxes and placed them around Fulton to collect donations of Easter items. This includes baskets, cellophane basket wrap, candy and basket fillers of all sorts. They are also making bracelets to put in the Easter baskets.

Last year Madalyn & Evelyn’s Easter Spirit put together more than 400 baskets. Troop #10925 is hoping to help them with just as many baskets this year. There are boxes collecting items located at Off-Broadway Dance Center, Noah’s Nursery School, The Hair Hut and Devine Design Floral. The Bronze Award is the highest honor a junior Girl Scout can achieve.

The annual Good Friday Cross Walk, sponsored by the Greater Fulton Area Council of Christian Churches, will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 18, in the parking lot of Holy Trinity Parish, 309 Buffalo St., Fulton.

Walkers will gather for prayer and the singing of hymns as they take turns carrying a large wooden cross in the downtown section of the city of Fulton.

This annual Walk returns to and remembers the “way of the cross” that Jesus traveled on his journey within the city of Jerusalem to the place of his crucifixion.

The Cross Walk will conclude about noon at its final destination, First United Church of Fulton, 33 S. Third St.

Everyone who has taken part in the walk will be welcome to a Soup and Bread Luncheon provided by the Board of Deacons of First United Church.

Both the Cross Walk and luncheon are open to the general public. There is no cost for the luncheon.

The Greater Fulton Area Council of Christian Churches is made up of those member congregations who support ecumenical programs, including the annual Michaud Memorial Service and the annual fall season Crop Walk which raises money for world hunger and local food pantries.

For more information about the Greater Fulton Area Council of Christian Churches and the Good Friday Cross Walk, contact the Council of Churches President, the Rev. David Nethercott, at 592-2707.

The struggle of light over the shadows as told through the passion of Easter will come alive on stage in music as Fulton Community Theatre presents the return of the rock and roll cantata “Tenebrae.”

The musical work – composed and directed by Michael A. Bolio, and featuring the talents of the Christian rock band The Sent Forth – will play for one performance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5 in the Jubilee Hall of Holy Trinity Parish, 309 Buffalo St., Fulton.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Reservations may be made by calling 598-7840.

Proceeds from the event will go to help support Catholic Charities of Oswego County. Donations of non-perishable food items will also be collected and welcomed at the performance.

“We are happy to be once again dedicating part of our season towards helping Catholic Charities,” Fulton Community Theatre Artistic Director William Edward White said.

“Tenebrae”, which made its world debut as part of the theater’s 2013 season, features 11 original songs linked by dramatic narration and multimedia images, using the religious metaphors of the Light and the Shadowed forces that sought to extinguish it.

Tenebrae, which is Latin for “darkness,” is a long-held tradition in Western Christian churches, and describes a service where candles are slowly extinguished.

For Bolio, a bass guitarist who formed The Sent Forth band in 2007 with drummer Robbie Brown and lead guitarist Al Weaver, “Tenebrae” is a very personal journey. His inspiration comes not only from the original Gospels, but from attending many Tenebrae services around Central New York.

“Although every one of them told the story of The Passion beautifully, I felt there was a calling for a more contemporary approach,” Bolio said.

Joining the men of The Sent Forth on stage for “Tenebrae” will be the vocal talents of Molly Brown, Dawn Weaver, and Brian Pringle in the role of the narrator.

For more information, visit FCT’s website at www.fultoncommunitytheatre.net, or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/fultoncommunitytheatre.